In his "Producer's Note" in the beautiful book that is part of the box, Lemieux, who attended the first 10 shows on the tour, states, "To my ears this was the last tour that was consistently great, where every show is excellent, not a dud in the bunch." And Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally's comprehensive and informative insider's essay in the box is titled "The Last Great Dead Tour." These guys know what they're talking about.

Basically, the band had been on an upward trajectory since Garcia's return to the road in the spring of '87, following his near-death the previous summer. Of course, 1987 was a trip in itself, what with the unexpected mega-success of In the Dark and their first hit single, "Touch of Grey." But the momentum just kept building with each subsequent tour, as Garcia got back up to full speed (and then some!) and the group as a whole was as unified as they had ever been since Brent joined the band in the spring of '79. New original tunes were popping up and the old favorites were imbued with a freshness and spirit that was so uplifting and inspiring. The band was having fun again, and it was downright infectious.

The group's fall 1989 shows-as documented two years ago on the Formerly the Warlocks box (two shows from Hampton, VA, 10/8-9/89) and on the 2001 release Nightfall of Diamonds (a single night in NJ, 10/16/89)- kicked the energy level up another couple of notches, as the band reintroduced such loved classics as "Help on the Way" > "Slipknot!," "Attics of My Life," "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and "Dark Star."

And when the band hit the road in mid-March 1990, they had a bunch of other cool tunes to lay on their unsuspecting crowds, including the return of "Loose Lucy" (last played in 1974; it's not on this box), Brent's "Easy to Love You" (missing since 1980), a rollicking cover of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time," The Band's "The Weight" (with all four singers taking a verse each) and a lyrically retooled "Black-Throated Wind" (absent since 1974), which elicited huge cheers every time it was played.

Over these six shows, most of the cornerstones of the Dead's repertoire from the era appear-splendid versions of "Scarlet Begonias" > "Fire on the Mountain," "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider," "Playing in the Band," "Uncle John's Band," "Eyes of the World," "Estimated Prophet," "Truckin'," "Sugar Magnolia," "The Other One," "Terrapin," "Stella Blue," "Feel Like a Stranger," "Bird Song," "Let It Grow," "China Doll," "Box of Rain," "Morning Dew"; you name it. From the fall '89 breakouts come "Help-Slip-Frank," "Attics of My Life" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy." Among the still newish tunes are "Picasso Moon," "Blow Away," "Foolish Heart," "Just a Little Light," "Victim or the Crime," "Standing on the Moon," "We Can Run" and a couple that would get their final plays from the Grateful Dead on this tour-"Built to Last" and "Believe It or Not." There are stirring renditions of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Black Muddy River," rockin' takes on "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Iko Iko" and the only version of the full "Hey Jude" the band attempted in the modern era. And the "Rhythm Devils" and "Space" jams at the heart of each second set are as noisy-beautiful-scary-funny-intense-mysterious-wild as you'd expect/hope for.

Of course, we understand that some of you may have other favorite shows from this tour you wish were included on this box. Really, you can't go wrong with any of them. But at 18 discs, this is still the second largest Grateful Dead box (after Europe '72: The Complete Recordings) that's been released, and the non-inclusion of any other shows from the tour definitely does not preclude their future release! But this seemed like a more manageable way to go, while still giving a sense of the tour's amazing depth and breadth.

Besides the discs themselves, Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 has much to offer, including: a gorgeous 60-page hardcover book containing copious color photos by Jim Anderson and Michael Laurentus, unique artwork by Brooklyn-based fine artist Wes Lang, fascinating business letters and communications related to the tour, a detailed historical essay by Dennis McNally, a Producer's Note by David Lemieux and individual show descriptions by Blair Jackson; a reproduction of the Dead's 1990 tour program (printed and sold later in '90, for the fall and Europe '90 tours); tickets and backstage passes of all six shows; a band publicity photo from 1990 by Ken Friedman; Dennis McNally's tour laminate; and reproductions of the colored 8x10 sheets GDTS sent out with hotel, food and other information for each city on the tour.

With recordings made by longtime Grateful Dead recordist and producer John Cutler, mastered by Jeffrey Norman in HDCD, you just know it's gonna sound great-and it does!

So, that's the skinny this time 'round. This box is limited to just 9,000 numbered copies - please note, this is the only time these shows will ever be officially available on CD. There will not be an All Music Edition and single shows will not be available physically. Due to ship out August 31st, we anticipate that this extraordinary set will sell-out, so order your copy today!

If you're looking for more of a bite-sized taste of the '90s, Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It, a 2-CD set featuring a handful of favorites, will be in stores on September 18th.

Disc 1
1. Feel Like A Stranger [8:12]
2. West L. A. Fadeaway [7:41]
3. Easy To Love You [6:14]
4. Beat It On Down The Line [3:34]
5. It Must Have Been The Roses [6:29]
6. The Last Time [5:40]
7. Picasso Moon [7:07]
8. Don't Ease Me In [3:30]

I know that 3 Winterland shows equals $100 & that the 2 Winterland sets equal $200 for 6 shows. I never said Winterland was cheaper, you misunderstood. I said "I rather pay less AND have something smaller". Not pay less FOR something smaller like Winterland. I prefer smaller like in the Winterland, So Many Roads or Beatles Mono Box set size. I think all the big packaging is wasteful & cluttersome. Frankly in New York City there is not enough room in the average apartment to house all of my Grateful Dead collectible habit.

I ordered when they released 500 or so more sets. Funny how they sent me a UPS tracking # which repeatedly would not work. Turns out they shipped via US Postal Service. One thing I did notice with this new order is that New Yorkers must now pay tax, uggghhh! Box cost me $231, what was I thinking? Difficult to justify spending that much money on 6 shows that can be streamed for free. I received # 8275 in the cool shipping box. The book, stubs, passes, and other extras are nice. Every disc looks to be correct. Only played through the Copps show. Sounds fairly decent but not as good as Without a Net. The tinkly, cheesy keyboards are a bit grating. I went to shows from 1985-1994 but have now been spoiled by all the 68-77 releases. For 80's I am beginning to think that 1982 is a better period instrumentation "soundwise". The Spectrum Road Trips & the Dick's Picks 32 are great performances with Jerry in good voice & guitar tone, also Brent's keys are complimentary & do not stand out as much. For what it's worth I rather pay a lot less & have something in the size of the Winterland box sets. Those fit way better on the shelf & the artwork is awesome. I also much prefer the Road Trip series packaging to the Dave's or Dick's picks. Complain all you want, but a little squeeze of the cardboard & the discs come out scratch free. The Road Trips artwork is apropriate, trippy, GD cool, etc. They line up nicely on the shelf & the thick matted cardboard does not allow finger print/smudges. Definitely a lot more handsome & sturdy than the freakishly larger Dave's Picks. Keep the releases coming, but please have some mercy on future pricing!

My "Spring '90" arrived yesterday in the Netherlands. As I wasn't at home (I have to work to afford such things as this box) I had to collect it today from the local supermarket that doubles as a post office. I haven't had a chance to check the contents yet. Delivery took 20 working days (4 weeks) instead of the 8-12 working days stated in a mail I received. At least it has arrived - and I didn't have to pay any import duty or sales tax.

I was lucky enough to order one of these box sets. And in spending more than $200, I was shipped this box set which, I am told by others, clearly indicated what it is on the exterior of the packaging. Now, regardless of tracking number, the fulfillment company did not ship it with a delivery signature required, so UPS (allegedly) delivers my package when no one is home, and, they say, left it on the doorstep.

If that is true, then throughout these past two weeks I've been waiting for my box set to arrive, it has been in the hands of another party entirely.

Customer service tells me to "contact the USPS for more information regarding the delivery. If you need any further assistance, please let us know." Considering I told customer service in my email that UPS (not USPS) states they already delivered it, I find their incompetence to be compounded by lack of attention to the complaint.

To sum up: I spent $200 so Dead.net could send a neighbor or passerby a weighty, glorious collection of the Grateful Dead. I suppose eventually I may be grateful that I could gift someone such a prize, but right now, I far more upset that Dead.net stole my money right outta my hand.

"I have so rarely had things I ordered lost in the mail, I have a conspiracy theory that they never sent the product in the first place. Anyone else want to jump on my conspiracy bandwagon? No tracking? No immediate replacement?"

I don't think it's much of a "conspiracy" actually because it's completely reasonable and probably true. They are making excuses. On top of screwing up SO BAD, they are lying.

All they really had to do is tell the truth and apologize and we would all be fine and patient. So the screw ups was the least of it that bothered me. The LACK of quickly correcting it, explaining it, and apologizing for it was the part that pissed me off.

@Steve - that's probably the most baffling part of this whole exercise. What product planner doesn't add 10% for refunds, exchanges, lost in the mail, damaged product, etc...

There must have been SIGNIFICANT problems with this box set (read: 3rd world manufacturing) that have made it impossible to replace for the time being.

My suspicion is that they had a double whammy of shipping problems (did it ever ship?) along with Quality problems noted below, along with not enough overstock to cause a perfect storm of product scarcity.**

When I buy something from someone on the internet, the lack of a tracking number is the first red flag that something may be awry. A second tracking number that also doesn't work usually confirms my suspicion that I'm being ripped off. Dead.net now fits into that category.

I just want my refund now. My customer service rep, who unfortunately is not Dr. Rhino, appears to be off on Fridays. I'll give them until Monday for the refund before I again punish myself by calling them on the phone.

**What's sad is that we've left the world of happy hippie GD Mercantile, we've left the tapers behind, Dick's dead, we're not trading tapes in the lot, and we're being forced to deal with crap like "Global Fulfillment" and "Quality Problems" - I remember when quality problems meant I got a 3rd gen tape and not a 2nd.....sad.

For people inside the US of A, the time to start contacting your credit card company is now. You're being much too generous with your time, patience and your money. I ordered my S90 set 4 weeks ago and have had it in my possession for 3 weeks; therefore, there are no mysterious circumstances which are holding up your purchase. You're just being screwed.

It's also time to report the company to the Better Business Bureau. Also, post your negative experiences over at ripoffreport.com, complaintsboard.com, sitejabber.com, bizclaims.com, resellerratings.com. Warn people on Facebook and Twitter. We live in the flat-earth age of the internet and socal media where no faulty business practice can or should be allowed to go scot-free.

First of all thanks to dogfood1 for clarifying the situation - although things seem to change here from day to day. I always presumed that they were holding back a number of boxes to deal with non-delivery problems with the surplus stock being sold off in mid-October. Now they are saying they are not getting anymore - why? If they are short of the 9000 then where is the missing stock - on its way to ebay? The only good news to be picked up from all this is that quite a few people are still waiting for their box to arrive (especially in the UK it seems) so there is still a good chance that some if not all will turn up at some point - or maybe not. As regards refunds, if they say they will do it then give it a week before checking with your credit card company. It is in dead.net/rhino's interest to do this asap as getting the credit card company (and therefore the company which supplies credit card services to the retailer) to take action will result in a freezing of income to the retailer and a pile of investigation emails which would need to be acted on to get the money back before it is automatically refunded to the customer. These companies don't like doing this as it costs them time and money - dealing with a lot of these will trigger a concern on there part as to whether the retailer is fit and able to trade. If the retailer has taken every action reasonable - checking on order, supplying replacement or prompt refund - then things are OK but given the problems we have had here with S90 and DP3 (a whole wad of which were actually recovered from the old despatchers and sent out 5 weeks later then stated) then this could be a problem. An official comment from someone would be useful.

Does anybody know what is going on? This is the gist of an e mail I have just sent to another head - my friend RiggsJR.
Thanks for indulging me.
John,

I'm guessing you will have seen the latest posts on Dead.net, i.e. it appears someone has been told their order has been cancelled & they will be getting a refund (believe it when I see it - the refund that is).
I don't know where I stand - is mine on the way? how long do I wait before I contact C. Card co to complain?
I would also be interested how many more heads are in this situation which amounts to limbo as far as I can see. Somebody in authority desperately needs to come clean and talk to us!! That should not be too much to ask and is no reflection on Marye who does a fantastic job on our behalf.
As much as I want this set (and the ones that come after it), there is a limit to my patience, and as we have both agreed, one can only listen to so much Dead. I still have Dick's Picks & Download Series that I have never listened to.
Fingers crossed that we get some good news for a change - and soon.

With my new iPhone arriving on Friday I finally got around to loading the discs on my iMac. I hadn't even taken the discs out of the sleeves. When I received the box several weeks ago I just looked the items inside the box. Everything was going well until I got to Knickerbocker Arena. I inserted the disc into my iMac and it just kept starting and stopping. I thought that my CD drive had gone bad. After ejecting the disc I reinserted and tried again.
Same problem. I ejected the disc and looked at the back. What do I see, a 2 inch crack. First time I ever had a defective disc since I have been buying CD's. I called Dead customer service at about 12:50am and they said they would send out a replacement in a couple of days.

I just started to read these message posts. I had no idea so many people had the same problem. Considering this is such a small amount of sets, only 9000 this is horrible quality control. Really no excuse for this. I don't know what happened in the pressing and manufacturing process. The discs are way too hard to remove from packs. They should use a spring loaded release. Hopefully I will receive my replacement soon. CD's are dinosaurs.
They won't even exist a few years from now. It will be all digital downloads. You will still be able to get the box with goodies in it but no music inside.

It's disappointing to see so many agitated Heads out there. I too have received faulty merchandise over the years (specifically Wall of Sound Road Trips), I just chalked it up to my CD player, but now I know that inferior products are being produced from time to time. I am kinda glad that I passed on this set, even though I love love love late era Dead. I am going to purchase the 2-disc set when it's available.

I miss the good old days when the boys were handling everything in house, and Dick's Picks bumper music was on the other end of the phone if you were put on hold. When you did speak with a customer service rep, you could tell it was a NoCal resident who was fairly well versed in the products available. I had a shipping snafu with a Europe 72 disc, and the people on the other end were very rude to me. I just passed it off as another stressed out rep.

I also miss the days when you could get a 6-disc Dick's Picks,mastered by Jeffrey Norman, with nearly 2 complete shows (minus a Sunrise hear and there) and pay 25.00. The prices are getting more and more expensive, yet I continue to be delighted by the music contained in the releases. I passed on Winterland 77, Europe Mega Box and now this set. I never have viewed any of these sets as collector's items, becuase I never intend to sell any of them. I did pony up for the Warlocks set, and it continues to delight me, but they used the 24-track mixes for that one.

Finally, Rhino, continue to work on providing the best product at the lowest cost. I don't think a lot of us care about the "bells and whistles", as they eventually end up being "left on shelves collecting dust, not knowing what they mean". All we care about is the music!

Now, how about making all previous releases available (including Fillmore West; I need my Cautions) in high quality downloads at a low cost.

VOTE FOR GARY JOHNSON in 2012!

Oh, and I can't wait for 30 Days of Dead in November!!! Looking forward to the nuggets that are going to be unleashed on us! Thanks for your generosity on that end!!!!

The fact that 9000 suckers (myself included) sprung for this set probably won't influence Rhino to tone down the packaging or goodies or price. Next year's set will cost as much, if not more, and will contain more useless nostalgic garbage. Just wait. Granted, the books are nice, but I'm sick of reading stuff from Blair, McNally and Lemieux. We all already know in advance what these three have to say concerning the band because they keep rehashing it in various forms with every release. Why not let some new voices offer up their opinion or experiences?

As far as I am aware, the "Dave's Picks Volume 3" fiasco is down to the old fulfillment company whereas the "Spring '90" fiasco is definitely down to the new, improved fulfillment company. For your peace of mind, it would also seem to be the case that all future fiascos will be down to the new, improved fulfillment company.

This seems odd - people are being told that if they haven't got their S90 it is now completely out of stock and they will have to settle for a refund. Yet for the last few weeks - and as I write - it clearly says at the top that a last batch will be ready for sale on October i.e. boxes will still be available. Needless to say as one of those still waiting (this sunday will be one month since I received a despatch note saying it was on it way) I am concerned that if my order never turns up then that's it, no chance of another copy. The word is that us in the UK and Europe still waiting should hang on sending a message to customer services until the 23rd but this new development needs clarifying now in case I need to start looking around for another source and get by credit card company to deal with dead.net. If I was running dead.net I would be having an urgent meeting now to see how to repair the serious damage that has been done over the last two months to the company's reputation. The number of people who have said they are calling time on trading with dead.net is rather worrying to be honest.

All this waiting and hassle has taken the shine off this set for me ..... I doubt whether I'll spend much time looking at all the 'goodies' in it. I had mp3's of the music weeks ago, so I really now want to hear them in HDCD !

I hope they tone down the packaging going forward. I much prefer the packaging of Fillmore West and Vault box etc. I'd much rather they release high quality downloads, say, once a month. Just my preference now, but I just want buying Grateful Dead music to be a positive expereience once again.

I'm now preparing to ring Dead.net again tomorrow if nothing turns up. I'm sure I'll get the same lame excuses but I'll keep trying.

Didn't someone find out much earlier in the process that these shipments were being handled by a new fulfillment company? I'm not going to backtrack through countless messages to find it, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

From the latest Grateful Dead Bulletin:
As you've probably noticed, a few things are a little bit different on Dead.net. Have no fear - we're simply working on an improved storefront with a new fulfillment company that will allow you to shop with ease and peace of mind. We expect the full transition to be complete during October. We appreciate your patience.

My question concerns the new fulfillment company. Is the new company causing all these problems or is it the old one? I am really reconsidering getting next year’s subscription to Dave’s Picks after reading of the latest problems. I have had no issues lately, but if the new company is responsible for what is happening lately then I might opt out.

When disc 1 of 18 was flawed -- It skipped terribly... in Bird Song (of course!).

But I did PM that wonderfully patient and helpful person who lurks here constantly, but posts almost only to help with people's problems. You know who she is!

The people she suggested I contact replied to my email and said the problem would be addressed within 48-72 hours.

After 96 hours I had not heard back, so I replied back to them reminding them of their promise to address the problem of the one bad disc.

I received a reply the next day, saying that my bad disc would be replaced and would go out "this week."

A bit more than one week later, I received another email saying the replacement disc was sent to me "today."

That was three days ago. I received the disc today. The mailing label shows that it was sent when it was claimed to be sent.

It is the right one and it is free of problems. I am happy!

Even though I did detect a certain tendency to "over-promise and under-deliver" with regard to timing --- when the right model is obviously the reverse of that -- I consider that this has overall been a good customer service experience.

I expect and hope that most people's experience will be similar, but it is the nature of the internet and of mankind that negative experiences will be more frequently made public.

My heart goes out to those who have had bad experiences so far, but I do believe that with a combination of persistence and patience you will find that things will be made right.

(Also, I have no problem at all hearing Mr. Garcia's guitar and his voice in this mix.)

Ordered Spring 1990 on 8/1 with a promise of shipping by 9/1.
Received confirmation of shipping on 8/23 with a tracking number (yeah)
Tracking number didn't work (boo)
Got email that the tracking numbers were rubbish, use new tracking number (yeah)
New tracking number didn't work (boo)
Was told to wait until 9/6 for delivery
No Spring 90
Sent numerous emails to cust service. Response was the same: looking into it, investigating with shipper,etc... (BOO)
Finally, after 2 weeks sent terse email threatening to cancel order - No reply
Called customer service and spoke with supervisor. Was told that Spring 90 is essentially on backorder until early October (Boo)
Was given 20% discount and credited back my shipping charge of $13 (Yeah!)
Today I got an email saying that Spring 90 is permanently out of stock and my order will be cancelled and credited.

This company is so screwed up that words have a hard time doing it justice.

I have so rarely had things I ordered lost in the mail, I have a conspiracy theory that they never sent the product in the first place. Anyone else want to jump on my conspiracy bandwagon? No tracking? No immediate replacement?

W--T---F---- is wrong with these people? I have never encountered worse customer service and fulfillment on the internet.

Is there any higher level of customer service at Dead.net that we can contact? If these people can't get an order right, how can I trust them to even credit me back the money?

What gets me about the Sandstone 6-25-91 concert is that just before Tennessee Jed there's a Reuben and Cherise tease. They didn't play it that evening or ever again. I think that if they had it just might have been the perfect concert. It's still one of my faves from the awesome month of June '91. Based on what David L. said they might be saving Soldier Field '91 for a tandem video/audio release. In addition, I agree that they should also release video/audio of 7-18-89 and I think they should include the missing tunes from 7-17 as filler. (Row Jimmy, Masterpiece, and When Push Comes to Shove)

Someone thinks they are going to release another show from this tour for Dave's Picks 4. I would be willing to bet big money and even give odds that doesn't occur. When have they ever done that? People bitch and moan if two picks in a row are from the same DECADE. Can you imagine releasing six shows from a tour and then having the next individual show release be a seventh show from that tour? I'd guess '60s, since it seems like it's been a long time since they have tapped that era, but could also be early-mid '80s, IMO. We shall see. That's my bet (figuratively speaking).

Waiting for a replacement disc here too. I'm one week away from mailing it back and disputing the CC charge. Paying 200 big ones (yes Rhino, that is a lot of money for us) for something that isn't even complete - NO WAY! An update would sure go a long way. I'm happy for the people who got what they paid for, and a bit jelous. I can't even bring myself to listen to it until it's complete, should make for an easier return that way.

A recent post called this the worst mix ever. I wouldn't go that far. Plenty of the live to 2-track releases are worse, at least in parts. But this does make me want to get back on my soapbox regarding the mixing budget of the archival release program. I tried to remember the last time a release was given a decent mix from multi-track and I had to really think about it. The Europe box and Formerly the Warlocks were given the rush treatment and they sound that way. Crimson, White and Indigo (released 2010) employed an unknown engineer who somehow didn't screw it up horribly. The last time Jeff Norman properly mixed one was back in 2008 on Rocking the Cradle. I predict the days of Rhino budgeting for decent audio are way behind us. It's our own fault. The market will bear it. No one cares about their Machiavellian business practices. I don't even care that much. I'm just reporting from the peanut gallery and adding my voice to those crying foul. The worst part is that the raw materials for what could be fantastic audio documents will sit and rot in the vault.

Hey Dafydd - you've hit the nail squarely on the head in my opinion. I grew up in the 60's in the SF Bay Area. I've been a GD fan for what seems my entire life. I have also spent the past 34 years in customer service and order fulfillment. I have set up call centers for corporate campuses such as Apple & Oracle, on college campuses such as Stanford & UCLA, and government/military facilities such as NASA Ames Research Center, DOE, Fort Hood, etc. My GD collection is vast and complete. I've never missed a release or opportunity to snag bonus material. The whole E72, DP3, & S90, has exhausted me, spiritually and otherwise. I agree that dead.net is the worst merchant on the internet by a LONG LONG LONG way, in all catagories including product reliability, customer service, and order fulfillment. It sure would be nice if that phantom that has "final responsibility for the business of dead.net proffered" that explanation you so eloquently requested, but I do believe the boys are busy. It would be nice, but it wouldn't change my mind about walking away from collecting anything ever again offered by these bozos. When incompetence reaches criminal proportions, its time for this head to shuffle off and find a new hobby. This is the first time I've ever posted, and I suspect the final. With that in mind, when you assail the dark tower that is dead.net in the future, and find your fist raised, please raise the middle finger just a little higher in memory of me. Peace out.

If previous patterns are an indicator, Volume Four will be very different from the Spring 90 Box Set just released. I'd be surprised if it's a Brent-era release. I'll guess the Arc show from 4/23/69, or how about Kezar 5/26/73.

Box arrived in Dundee today, according to driver just seems to be your luck whether you or not you get hit with charges.
Opening ceremony will commence with immediate effect.
Good luck to those still waiting!

For what its worth. Same as Terrapin Station release from 1997.
IMO... inferior source to 24-track...
Can anyone explain the logic of going this route when the 24-track recordings are sitting there ?? And then charging the amount they did.
I usually don't get worked up over this type of thing but I am seriously disappointed.

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